THE LIFE &
WORK
OF DWIGHT LYMAN MOODY

BY THE REV. J.
WILBUR CHAPMAN, D.D.

Important
Tributes from the Secular and Religious Press - All Men Eager to Admit
Mr. Moody's Greatness - What He Accomplished for the Betterment of Mankind.

Few men who have labored in the field
of evangelism have won their deserved recognition so completely as Mr. Moody.
Association with Mr. Moody very quickly convinced one that he stood pre-eminent
among millions for his earnestness, his singleness of purpose, his unaffected
piety, - for all that combination of principles and faculties which went to
make up his marvelous personality. But it was not necessary to be associated
with him to understand in some measure his greatness. His work stands as a monument
to abilities which were far above the ordinary. Tens of thousands of men cry
out, "He helped me!" Great buildings in various parts of the country
attest his foresight in educational matters, and the practical bent of his mind.

HIS GREATNESS RECOGNIZED EVERYWHERE

These visible signs, this great mass of cumulative evidence of his greatness
it is impossible to ignore. Even persons who were so unfortunate as not to come
into sympathy with his efforts cannot refuse to recognize that he accomplished,
with God's help, great thing's for the betterment of mankind.

Here, then, I quote a few extracts from editorials in various journals, published
immediately after Mr. Moody's death. The unanimity of opinion is remarkable.
I doubt very much if any other great man who has died within the past few years
has received after his death such a shower of glad tributes. Those who have
followed Mr. Moody's career know how well deserved the tributes are, and yet,
how much they fall short of recognizing the full measure of his greatness.

"Mr. Moody undoubtedly exerted
a powerful and stimulating influence, not only on the masses but on many of
those who were his superiors in birth, breeding or intellect." - The
London Spectator.

"Wherever Moody spoke, whether
in his own country or in other English-speaking lands, he invariably commanded
attention and aroused interest. He retained to the very last of his public
career the qualities which marked him from the outset as a potent preacher."
- The Boston Globe.

"Mr. Moody's claim to greatness
did not rest on his intellectual strength, but on his goodness. The standard
of his character was his unqualified and immovable faith in God and in the
Bible. With this faith he combined simplicity, honesty, sincerity, humility,
zeal, an abhorrence of egotism, and a broad charity." - The Chicago Inter-Ocean.

"His going leaves a great
void behind, and the world will seem lonely without him to many in every land.
His death will send a wave of sincere sorrow over millions of humanity without
distinction 'of race, creed or church. Here was a man whose soul was pure
goodness, who was ruled by loftier motives than commonly govern men, whose
crown was Christlike character, and men, even irreligious men, instinctively
yield his memory the homage of their respect and reverence." - The Presbyterian
Banner.

"Mr. Moody's life teaches
us that, while the Church needs scholars, what she needs most of all is the
impulse of Christian devotion, that force which compelled St. Paul, and has
compelled a thousand others in all branches of the Church on whom was laid
the burden of a lost world, and who have said, 'Woe is me if I preach not
the Gospel.' Mr. Moody's life was well filled out with work nobly accomplished,
and his death was the fit end of a life of faith and service. His memory is
one of the treasures of the Christian Church." - The Independent.

"He combined, as only his
countrymen can, a remarkably keen business intelligence with unflagging enthusiasm.
To the last he was very much what he had been at first; he attempted to be
no more or better; he had no precise "views or "opinions about abtruse
matters; and probably he did not himself know very well whether he was a Calvinist
or not, or what were his exact theological bearings. But some gift within
him, some influence which he gave out, had more efficacy with certain minds
in certain moods than learning or eloquence or wit or pathos. The note of
sincerity, the unflinchingly literal way in which he took things which others
understood symbolically or spiritually, had a prodigious effect on people
who wanted to see and hear and touch with their hands; people by no means
necessarily unintelligent." – The London Times.

"According to common agreement,
Mr. Moody was not a great preacher, so far as greatness depends upon and is
manifested in extensive learning or lofty flights of eloquence. There was
in his appeals to sinners that mysterious something which is expressed neither
in fine phrases nor in deep philosophic reflections. His magnetism and convincing
force seem to have lain in an earnestness which left no doubt, and which affected
the emotions like a whirlwind. By his death the evangelization movement has
sustained a tremendous, perhaps irreparable, loss." - The Baltimore Herald.

Chicago at one time claimed this
mighty preacher. But when he died the whole world claimed him, so wide was
the range of his evangelizing activities. He stirred the hearts of the two
great English-speaking nations with his militant enthusiasm. He was the field
marshal of the hosts that cling to the belief that the Gospel itself suffices
for all the spiritual needs of humanity. The moral effect of his life-work
upon humanity was greater than that of any other man of the nineteenth century."
- The Chicago Times-Herald.

"Mr. Moody's strength lay
in his simplicity and his earnestness. He has been described as magnetic,
but simple earnestness always is magnetic. He had the faculty of impressing
his hearers with his absolute and undeviating belief in the truth of all he
said. He went straight to the point. There was no concession to oratorical
effect or to literary polish. He said nothing simply because it sounded well,
confining himself to straightforward, fearless statements of what he believed
and what he wanted others to believe, and such apparent absolute faith necessarily
carried conviction with it." – The Chicago Evening Post.

He preached the Bible only and
he lived in accordance with his preaching. For dogma, he cared little and
in theology he was a tyro. He never preached over the heads of his audience.
The wayfarer, though a fool, could not fail to understand him, and his earnestness
was so great and his personal appeal so forcible that every one felt Moody
was talking to him alone. Such honesty, sincerity and strength of purpose
could not but have their reward, and few expounders of divine truth have looked
upon a harvest so rich in sheaves as his." - The Chicago Tribune.

"He seemed to care little
for any business but his Master's. It was this unflagging energy, this faith
in his vocation, that brought him the confidence of men to whom like energy
and faith had brought like success in the pursuit of wealth. He combined strangely
the old and the new. He was perhaps the last great revivalist on the old theological
lines, and he was the first to use wholly modern methods of publicity and
appeal. In his earnestness, his unselfishness and his sanctified common sense
he was one of the most remarkable men of our generation, for whose life the
world has been better." – The Churchman.

"What was the secret of his
power? First and foremost, it was his intense religious earnestness. He knew
God. The vision of the Eternal had risen in his soul. This deep and definite
experience was an offset to his lack of literary culture. It made him profoundly
anxious to do something for the souls of his fellow-men Nature had endowed
him also with a sturdy and sober common sense. He cut no fantastic tricks,
adopted no sensational methods, avoided even the appearance of smartness,
and relied solely on the truth of God as spoken in plain and simple words
and as vivified by the Holy Spirit." - The Nashville Christian Advocate.

"The story of the outward
life of such a man as Mr. Moody can be condensed after a fashion into a paragraph,
and this has frequently been done; but the ramifications of its influence
no pen can describe, no imagination can conceive. Its effect upon theology
have been its least effects; but they have been incalculable. For though Mr.
Moody has done little directly to change the theological thought of his time,
he has done a great deal to inspire its religious life and those who believe
that theology must always be the outgrowth of religion will believe that his
theological influence is far greater and far more wholesome, because more
vital, than either he or his contemporaries have imagined." - The Outlook.

"In nearly all the great cities
of this country and in many of the towns of Great Britain. the footsteps of
Dwight L. Moody have been marked by the upspringing of schools, of helpful
agencies, of aids to raise the fallen, to lighten the dark places, to help
human beings in all that makes for righteousness. Although a lay evangelist,
he was a great preacher, eloquent, soul-stirring, convincing and ministering
to others the faith that made him whole, but great as he was as a preacher,
he was greater as a worker, and his works live after him, vitalized and given
enduring substance by the spirit which created them" - The Philadelphia
Telegraph.

"Farewell, Brother Moody!
Thousands upon thousands will mourn thy departure; thousands upon thousands
will look back to the time when they were first warned to return to the fold
by the words of entreaty, while future generations will be blest by the influence
of thy searching teaching of the truth as it is in Jesus. The Church will
learn all too soon of the greatness of the prophet who has left them. But
all work for the Master is done under human conditions; the man passes, his
work abides. So it will be now; Moody has ceased to live in the flesh, but
he lives in his work, and the results of his wonderful teaching will be felt
by succeeding generations." – Christian Work.

"Mr. Moody was a wonderful
leader of men. Everywhere he went he set others to work for Christ. No one
was so bad as to be repulsive to him, and no one was so wise or good that
he did not venture to approach and use him to further his service for Christ.
Thousands of waifs rescued from rags and wretchedness are useful men and women
because Mr. Moody put his arms of love around them and lifted them up. He
has built many structures in many cities, where young men and women gather
to work for and worship God. But his noblest monument is made of living stones
built together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. His life can best
be summed up in one sentence: He was a wise winner of souls." - The Congregationalist.

"Mr. Moody was not only sincere;
he was intensely in earnest. He not only implicitly believed in the truth
of the doctrines which he expounded, but he was firmly convinced that the
acceptance of those doctrines by the men and women whom he addressed was the
most important thing in the world; that every other interest was in comparison
trivial and without consequence. He believed, moreover, and he believed it
in all humility, that he had been commissioned from above to go about the
world delivering the message of the Gospel. He felt himself to be a Heaven-appointed
minister to convince humanity of sin and point out the way of salvation."
– The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"He commanded the respect
and confidence of men of other religious faiths and beliefs, and even of the
non-religious classes, by his sturdy common sense, his geniality and whole-heartedness,
and by his freedom from all cant and affectation. He lived the religion he
professed, and practiced what he preached. In speech and manner he was simple,
clear, and direct; he understood the common people because he was always one
of them in thought and feeling, and among them his greatest and most enduring
work was done. The world is a far better and happier world to-day because
of the life of Dwight L. Moody. He will live long in the grateful and tender
memory of mankind." - Leslie's Weekly.

"He never made any serious
mistakes. There was no flaw in his character. He commanded an absolutely universal
respect. Rich and poor, high and low, learned and illiterate, cherished almost
exactly the same feelings toward him. The kind of influences which he began
to put forth in Chicago forty years ago went on growing and extending to the
day of his death - and to-day, as tidings of his death are borne to every
part of the English-speaking world, his influence will seem to be greater
than ever. It is not an exaggeration to say that the coming century will be
in certain pervasive and vital respects appreciably different from what it
would have been were it not for the distinctive spiritual and moral forces
which Moody imparted and put forth." - The Chicago Record.

"A rugged simplicity and absolute
sincerity were the chief elements in his character. No one ever detected in
him a suspicion of cant. It might have been said of him, as Mirabeau said
of Robespierre, 'That is a dangerous man; he believes every word he says.
For the 'drill and pipe clay' of the clerical profession, as Robertson phrased
it, Mr. Moody had nothing but contempt, and his own unconventional ways, in
the pulpit and out of it, did a great deal to break down the stilted ministerial
tradition. Nor were the changes in his own style of work, as the years passed
by, without great significance. From being a mere evangelist, going from city
to city to address vast and emotional audiences, he became, by chief intention
and main use of time and strength, a Christian educator. His educational institutions
at Northfield, so remarkably planned and endowed, he regarded as the crowning
work of his life." - The New York Nation.

By their fruits shall ye know them.'
Judged thus, Mr. Moody's career takes saintly rank. Possessed of a marvelous
personal magnetism, an earnestness that was irresistible, and an enthusiasm
that defied the flight of time, he took his faith in Divine guidance in one
hand and his faith in mankind in the other, and, so armed, hurled the full force
of his splendid powers against the cohorts of evil. He could not fail. The measure
of his revealed success will challenge the admiration of posterity.

"'The measure of his revealed
success.' But what of the unrevealed? Its measure was never known, even to
himself. It remains a mystery lodged beyond the stars He drew the scoffer.
He startled the dormant conscience of carelessness, and stirred the soul of
the evil-doer. He wrought blessings innumerable in garret and in mansion.
He labored apart from the church, yet impelled toward the Church hundreds
of thousands whom the Church had pot reached." - The New York Mail and
Express.

"No one could visit North
America within recent years without feeling that Mr. Moody was one of the
great personalities of the continent - and that not only as an evangelist
or the representative of evangelical religion, nor even as an organizer of
education, but for his own self's sake as a man who lived his faith, and who
lived it with extraordinary force of character and wisdom. What I feel to
be our sorest loss in the death of this great and good man is that we shall
no more have his large heart and large mind in the reconciliation of those
divisions of opinion among Christian men which are so strong and in some quarters
so bitter at the present day. No one could have assisted reconciliation so
much as D. L. Moody. Yet it seems wrong to be envious even to this extent,
when we have so very much to thank God for in the influence and results of
His servant's life." - Prof George Adam Smith in the British Weekly.

"The death of ID. L. Moody
is an almost irreparable loss to evangelical Christianity. He was probably
the greatest religious revivalist of the present century. Yet that fact hardly
gives a true indication of the widespread influence he exerted over the lives
of multitudes of men and women in the Old World as well as the New. Even as
a revivalist he differed widely from the old-time revivalists of the last
generation, who terrified the sinner into repentance by holding him over the
precipice where he could see the lurid fires of the pit seemingly eager to
envelop him. Mr. Moody doubtless held exactly the same beliefs as to the character
and duration of future punishment as his predecessors did. But, without, perhaps,
being exactly conscious of the fact, the seeming harness of this dogma was
softened by his profound belief in the goodness and love of God. It was upon
that thought he most often dwelt, never failing to bring it in even when he
referred to the certainty of future punishment. This characteristic of his
exhortations separated him widely from the revivalists of the past, and gave
his teachings a much more general acceptance than was accorded to previous
evangelists." – The New York Tribune.

"He was very simple, absolutely
earnest, without self-conceit or pretence or cant. He had power; he used it
with all his might according to his knowledge and his lights. Nearly all of
us came in time to see that the work was good and the results very valuable;
that Moody, however he did it, took hold of the people that needed attention,
stirred them up to good purpose, and brought them something that made them
better. The English-speaking world long ago recognized him as a great force,
and one that made for righteousness and the essentials of true religion. Not
all of us are desirous to be good ourselves, but most of us are at least in
favor of other persons being good. So, nearly all of us have been in favor
of Mr. Moody, and respected him and his work, and honor his memory now that
he has gone. He was one of the preeminently successful men of the century,
and what he accomplished he did without much help from education, and without
favor or aid save what his manifest deserts won for his work. He simply forgot
himself, and took hold. He never let go, and he never remembered himself enough
to distract his attention from the work his heart was in." – Harpers
Weekly.

"Mr. Moody was not a man to
whom theological subtleties had any charm. But his convictions never halted.
What he believed, he believed with heart and soul. He might have been wrong
in premise and education, he might have been old-fashioned in theory, but
in spirit he was always right and strong, and he had almost a prophet's gift
in the potency of his messages. No one could long be in contact with his honesty
of purpose, his unqualified self-consecration, his boundless zeal and prophetic
spirit without being moved by these qualities. His influence was not only
national, but international. He was as notable a force in Great Britain as
in the United States. He possessed great personal magnetism, which, combined
with his religious enthusiasm, whose sincerity no one questioned, gave him
a power of persuasiveness which was well-nigh irresistible.

"While not reckoned among the clergy, or caring to be, he was 'yet a
powerful inspiration to the profession. He will be missed and mourned by the
churches as profoundly as by the common people, who regarded him almost as
their Moses. His educational work in his native town might well stand as a
monument of noble achievement. But that was among the least of the things
that he did in his Master's name and for His cause. He was a living Gospel,
arid his death, with its peace and joy, seemed to partake of the beauty and
splendor and awe of a transfiguration."--The Boston Transcript.

"Mr. Moody was a great evangelist,
and he did a great work. An unordained and essentially popular preacher, who
felt that his commission to win souls was in his love for Christ and his desire
to serve Him - he reached thousands who were not likely to come under the
influence of others whose belief in Christianity he quickened from a dull
acceptance of doctrine into a living power. Earnest in his own convictions,
and gifted with a remarkable talent for enlisting the interest and sympathy
of his hearers, he was a speaker of unusual effectiveness. Direct and simple
in his utterances; not always grammatical; fond of anecdote and homely illustration;
emotional, sometimes to an extreme - such was Dwight L. Moody as the leader
of countless public meetings. He filled churches and audience-rooms because
the people believed he had a message to deliver; as for himself, he believed
that that message was of tremendous consequence. His methods have been criticized,
but, certainly, he was not open to the charge of being insincere. His whole
life was given to doing what he felt to be his highest duty. To this task
he brought native ability, and a constantly increasing knowledge of the ways
to make that ability count for the most." – The Hartford Courant.

"Men are also asking the secret
of Mr. Moody's power. Four words sum it up: Common Sense and Consecration.
He had many striking characteristics, but through them all shone his spirit
of consecration. He was simple; a child could understand his sermons. He believed
in the power of stories; if they caused laughter or weeping, he took advantage
of the smiles or the tears to press home the Gospel message. He was a man
of faith, faith in God and man. He looked for the best in men, and they responded
by giving him their best. No one could hear him in private conversation or
on the platform without recognizing his intense earnestness. Whatever he did,
he did with all his heart, and he was able to inspire others to similar devotion.
Some people called him narrow; they little knew that, if he had used his powers
in other directions, he would have been as successful in conducting a great
financial venture, or planning a military campaign, as he was in leading men
to accept Christ as their Saviour.

"Mr. Moody believed the Bible from cover to cover, and he believed in
the fundamental doctrines of Christ. 'People ask me,' he said one time, 'If
I believe in the "higher criticism" How can I when I don't know
what it is? They ask me if I think there were two Isaiahs. Before taking up
that question seriously, I believe we should try to see what the prophecy
itself contains. 'Why do you go to hear Moody?' said a scoffer contemptuously
to a fellow club member. 'You don't believe what he preaches.' 'No, but he
believes it with all his heart, and it is refreshing to meet such a man in
these days of doubt and uncertainty.

"Mr. Moody was an optimist. Elijah on Carmel was his ideal; he had little
patience with the prophet under the juniper tree. He was a sincere man. While
looked upon as a leader, his daily prayer was that God would keep him humble.
To know him was to love him; thousands of people in every part of this country
and in Europe, and hundreds of missionaries in foreign lands, have lost a
personal friend in his death. He was a good man and faithfully served his
generation." - The New York Observer.

"Mr. Moody was not only reverential,
but humble. He was not only humble, but tolerant. He improved very much under
travel, under intercourse with able minds, and under the study of vast throngs,
as so many units. The consequence was that from a lone exhorter he became
a great leader, from a great leader he rose to be an organizer of much skill,
and he topped both functions with that of an educator on distinct lines, at
needed work, and upon a vast scale. Vie are regarding him entirely from the
human point of view, for the purpose of this consideration, and we are noting
in him exactly the qualities which would have made him successful in other
undertakings. His qualities were not unusual. His use of them was extraordinary.
The high purpose to which he applied them was ennobling and uplifting. The
singular simplicity, candor and gentleness of his spirit were remarkable,
considering the power he wielded, the influence which he commanded, the support
which he received and the praise, whether interested or disinterested, of
which he was the subject. His field was the world, and to do good his religion.

"He made haste slowly. He died on the heights, but he started on the
plains and had a hard passage through valleys and up mountain steeps, before
he walked with God. Without more than elementary education, utterly without
training, destitute of experience, simply aflame with spiritual purpose, he
had to vindicate himself, he had to create for himself a way, and he had to
do so against a critical, cultivated and combined class, the reverend clergy.
They did not relish an unlettered lay intruder. They were justified in their
instinctive disrelish. Of most lay intruders the note is arrogance, the method
burglarious, the self-confidence unabashable and the ignorance unteachable.
Of this lay intruder nothing like that could be said. He was altruistic, he
was modest, he was hungry to learn, he was deferential to knowledge, what
he acquired he held, what he held he increased, and what he increased and
made his own he made also the precious possession of others. The greatest
of lay workers became the master of lay workers, their monitor and their model,
and this at first uneducated man established institutions for Christian instruction
which taught the use of the tools of spiritual knowledge as aptly and as thoroughly
as the use of the tools of any other knowledge is anywhere taught." -
The Brooklyn Eagle.